living sustainably

6. What can we do?

The global economic system, with unbridled growth, and a barely controllable momentum by us humans, is increasingly endangering our natural basis of life and living together on earth.

We need to pave the way for sustainable economies and rethink our future economics on a Earth overflowing with people.

Green Economy, Future City, Energy Transition - central systems of human coexistence have been identified, the transformations of which are of fundamental importance for the future viability of our way of life and economy.

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Germany.

Sustainable development is hardly conceivable without a consistent circular economy. But turning away from a predominantly linear economy requires many political, economic and social decisions.

More and more people in the rich countries realize how irresponsible and selfish we behave and what a large, unpaid bill we leave to our children and grandchildren.

Older people are amazed at how quickly and completely the world has changed since their childhood, and not just for the better.

Younger people are amazed at the high price we have already paid for and will still have to pay for our growth-oriented lifestyle, should it continue to grow at the same rate.

Have now
- pay later. In
order not to be limited by what one can currently achieve by ones' means, the
store of future possibilities is plundered in advance.

The further
debts are pushed onto the future, the starker the constraints will be on the
options and freedoms of future generations. Niko
Paech. 2016. Liberation from Excess - The Road to a post-growth economy.

It is to be feared that, with digital technology, nature and humans will first and foremost merely be exploited even more efficiently - at least as long as policy is left aside.

So far there is, figuratively, no algorithm to benefit us humans or algorithm to protect nature.

The combination of digital progress and capitalist ideology in a fully monetarised society obviously leads to a concentration of power among a few, mostly private, actors [...].

However, digitalization
has contributed as much as nothing to solving the really big problems [...]. Because normally only ideas that can be made into money come onto the market. But most urgent problems are problems that affect the poor. Translated from: Jonas Lüscher, Writer - Interview in the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, 06.01.2018

Overall, digitalization processes today tend to act as «fire accelerants», exacerbating existing non-sustainable trends such as the overuse of natural resources and growing social inequality in many countries.Towards our Common Digital Future. 2019. German Advisory Council on Global Change.

We must act swiftly, but keep a cool head. We need a prudent policy without doomsday scenarios, without ideologies and without individual interests.

The concrete building blocks for sustainable development mainly consist of the following adjustments to our way of living, which are all closely linked:Source: Uwe Schneidewind. Die Grosse Transformation - Eine Einführung in die Kunst gesellschaftlichen Wandels.

Turnaround in prosperity and consumptionThe question is how sufficiency - a "Culture of Enough" - is possible and how the formation of such a culture can be supported by politics with the introduction of framework conditions.

Energy turnaroundThe goal of a revolution in our energy systems can only be achieved if the switch to renewable energy goes hand in hand with energy efficiency and energy sufficiency.

Resource turnaroundOnly if resource consumption per capita is reduced by a factor of 4 to 5 will humanity remain within planetary boundaries in the long term.

Mobility turnaroundThe change in mobility is closely linked to the energy turnaround and the resource turnaround and therefore needs more than just technological developments.

Nutrition turnaroundToday's food production is responsible for an important share of the burdens placed on global resources as well as CO2pollution. 30% of consumer-related environmental impacts in Europe are caused by our eating habits. Our consumption of meat and fish needs to be significantly reduced.

Urban turnaround

By the middle of this century, around 80% of the world's population will be living in cities. The nature of urban development is therefore of central importance for sustainable development as a whole.

It is very urgent. System collapse is a real danger. (...) We face tremendous challenges due to rapid population growth, the overuse of resources and associated pollution, the loss of biodiversity, and overall we are experiencing a gradual loss of our basis of existence. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker and Anders Wijkman - Come on! 2017

The 1972 Limits to Growth report to the Club of Rome dealt with the future of the world economy and, at that time, voiced the grim forecast according to which

the absolute limit of growth on Earth will be reached within the next hundred years if the current increase in world population, industrialisation, pollution, food production, and the exploitation of natural resources continue unabated.

For 30 years, we have ignored the results of scientific research and its forecasts regarding climate change.

Now we know for certain that climate change, and its effects on us humans, can no longer be stopped.

If we act now and halve greenhouse gas emissions worldwide
by 2030, we may be able to prevent the worst.

We will be confronted with a hostile climate. Millions of people worldwide will have to leave their homes because they are flooded or no longer habitable due to prolonged drought. For the people affected it means untold suffering.

Even if everyone in Switzerland reduces their
greenhouse gas emissions to zero, that would still only represent a reduction
of 0.2% of global emissions. Does that mean we should give up? - No!

Indeed, Switzerland, as a small but rich country,
has far more options than just reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions.

The idea: let's create a Swiss workshop for
strategic and global climate solutions. From there, promising to work on the most
effective from a global view. It's about leading the way from a capable small
state - and doing what we do best: developing pragmatic solutions - together
with other states and cities.

And what can I do on a personal level?

Let us separate from things that we can do
without. That way, we can save a few tons of CO2 emissions a year - that's
right. But we cannot fix the climate issue through individual actions only.

Which is why we are committed to make Switzerland take
on a collective responsibility in a clever way. For example, by encouraging
politicians to set up a climate workshop.Translated from: Eine helvetische Klimawerkstatt von Ivo Nicholas Scherrer im Online-Magazin REPUBLIK. 06.03.2020

The transition to a sustainable society in Switzerland could mean for example:

Reduce CO2 emissions
from an average of 6 tons at home [+ 8 tons abroad] today to 1 - 2 tons per capita and year by the year 2050.

Reduce energy consumption from an average of 5,000 watt continous output per capita to around 2,000
watt in the longer term. [it corresponds to an energy consumption of 17'500 kWh per person per year].